Rabbit Hole Updates

Basically, doing book reports on my search history.

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🔍 "Neurological studies on memory"

Psychologists have divided memory systems into two categories, which are then organized into subcategories. The two main categories are Declarative (Explicit) memory, which stores facts and events, and Non-Declarative (Implicit) memory, which includes associative learning skills such as muscle-memory and conditioning.

Memories are formed when neurons in the brain create connections, called synapses. These synapses create new circuits between nerve cells, essentially remapping the brain.

How Memories Form Around Events: Event segmentation is the theory that life events are stored in memories as individual, distinct moments. The neurological activity of brain cells showed the cognitive boundaries that mark the shift to a new "beginning" until the "end" of an event, which serves as a memory. (A "cognitive boundary" can be visualized as a science class shifting from the "Reproductive System" unit to the "Nervous System" unit, or as a football game that then shifts to commercial. There is a clear, "hard boundary" between the two contexts in which new information is being presented to you.)

Scientists have discovered two different types of brain cells that are triggered by events: Boundary Cells and Event Cells.

Boundary Cells: cells that become more active in response to new information, regardless of how it is presented.

Event Cells: cells that become more active in response to new information, particularly right after a new 'cognitive boundary', or a change in context.

Cool New Study on Memory and Trauma: Glutamate is a crucial chemical in the brain that facilitates the signals between neurons. Scientists have discovered that when exposed to traumatic events, the receptors for glutamate in the brain are more heavily concentrated in the amygdala area, which is associated with the brain's fear response. When the receptors in the synapses in the amygdala increase, the brain encodes fear in association with the traumatic memory. Scientists are trying to find a treatment for PTSD and other debilitating trauma responses by targeting the glutamate receptors in the amygdala.

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🔍 "Current Trump lawsuits and indictments"

This was legitimately too broad a search for Google to give me a succinct answer. Trump and his businesses are being sued for SO much stuff. These most widely-reported suits and investigations into his conduct are so bad that they didn't even scratch the surface of the multiple sexual assault allegations levied against him.

The Big Five

1. The Criminal Investigation into Hush Money Payments Made to Stormy Daniels* Using Trump's Campaign Funds, led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg

Long story short, Trump directed his then-lawyer Michael Cohen to pay off porn star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about Trump's affair with her. At that direction, Michael Cohen paid Stormy Daniels (and also paid someone to threaten her), and then Trump used his 2016 campaign funds to pay Michael Cohen the exact amount, calling it "Legal Fees".

Michael Cohen was already charged criminally in 2019, and served time for the crime that Trump directed him to do. There are concerns that his testimony must be taken with a grain of salt because of his history of doing dishonest things on Trump's behalf.

If prosecutors proceed with this case, it will be the first criminal case ever brought against a former U.S. president.

*Stormy Daniels, whose government name is Stephanie Clifford, prefers to go by her professional name (per Rachel Maddow's show on 1/31/23).

2. The Criminal Investigation into Trump's Efforts to Overturn the Results of The 2020 Election in Georgia, led by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis

The criminal investigation was opened after a recording of Trump on a call to Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger caught him saying "I just want to find... 11,780 votes".

A special 26-member grand jury filed a final report (which is currently still sealed) after looking into whether Trump or any of his associates engaged in the solicitation of election fraud, the making of false statements to government officials, and racketeering. *** Normally, grand juries in Georgia are comprised of 16-23 people for "one term of court" (the duration of a term depends on the county; in Fulton County, one term is two months). They will discuss cases that touch on a variety of issues. Regular grand juries do not have subpoena powers -- but have the ability to issue indictments. *** A special grand jury is convened for one specific topic and does not have a set duration. Special grand juries serve an investigative function and have subpoena powers. When the investigation is done, it can report its findings, but cannot issue an indictment. This particular special grand jury was convened at the request of DA Fani Willis to help with the investigation.

The district attorney will ultimately decide whether to pursue an indictment. If DA Fani Willis wants to seek an indictment, the case must be presented to a regular grand jury.

In order to obtain a criminal conviction, the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the individuals involved were aware that their actions were fraudulent.

3. The Civil Investigation into the Trump Organization (Trump, Ivanka, Don Jr., and Eric) Engaging in Fraud and Falsifying Business Records, led by New York Attorney General Letitia James

AG James alleges that the Trump Organization inflated its net worth to obtain a tax benefit. AG James is seeking $250 million that was fraudulently obtained and to ban Trump and his children from serving in leadership roles in any businesses in New York.

The corresponding criminal investigation into the Trump Organization already led to convictions; in December of 2022, Allen Weisselberg (Trump Organization's CFO) was found guilty of fraud and falsification of business records; he was sentenced to five months in jail and fined $1.6 million.

The trial is scheduled to be held on October 2, 2023.

4. The Federal Criminal Investigation into Trump's Possession and Handling of Classified Government Documents, led by the Department of Justice

This investigation is being led by Jack Smith, an independent special counsel appointed by the DOJ.

Trump's possession of classified government documents could have violated the Espionage Act.

11,000 documents were seized from various locations at Mar-A-Lago in August 2022. Over 100 documents were marked as classified, including some which were labeled as "top secret".

5. The Federal Criminal Investigation into the January 6 Insurrection led by the Justice Department, and the Congressional Committee's Recommendations for Criminal Charges

The January 6 Congressional Committee panel (part of the previous Congressional session) concluded its hearings in December 2022 by recommending four criminal charges against Trump for his role on Jan. 6, 2021: 1) Obstructing an official proceeding; 2) Conspiracy to defraud the United States; 3) Conspiracy to make false statements; and 4) Assisting or aiding an Insurrection.

The January 6 Panel also referred four Republican members - Kevin McCarthy (R-CA); Jim Jordan (R-OH); Scott Perry (R-PA); and Andy Biggs (R-AZ) - to the House Ethics Committee for their failure to comply with subpoenas.

The January 6 Panel also referred former Trump lawyer John Eastman for his role in subverting the 2020 election; particularly the theory that Mike Pence's refusal to certify the election on 1/6/21 could have changed the outcome.

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🔍 "Can you be swabbed for your DNA upon arrest?"

So after reading a few articles, including this one by NPR, I found out that the Supreme Court ruled that the police can swab an arrested person's mouth for DNA as part of a routine arrest/booking procedure. The majority rationalized this decision by saying that the oral swab was not invasive enough to be seen as a sufficiently violative, "unreasonable" search under the Fourth Amendment.

Context: I saw a post on Twitter that Trump's impending arrest could include the standard mugshot, fingerprinting, and DNA swab. It's possible that this DNA could possibly be admissible for the sexual assault/defamation suit that E. Jean Carroll is currently litigating against Trump in court.